Zendaya to play R&B idol Aaliyah in TV biopic

NEW YORK (AP) — Recording artist Zendaya will portray Aaliyah in a Lifetime film about the R&B sensation who died in a plane crash at the height of her stardom.

The biopic will be filmed this summer and is scheduled to air this fall, the network announced Monday.

It will trace a career that began with Aaliyah's debut on "Star Search" at age 10. In August 2001 her life was cut short when her plane crashed after takeoff from a Bahamian runway. She was just 22.

Zendaya will record four of Aaliyah's songs for the film. She recently released her debut album and its first single, "Replay," has sold 1.1 million copies. She starred on the Disney Channel series "Shake It Up!" and was a runner-up on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars."

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